N.J. brewpubs to benefit from law changes for increased sales, brewing capacity

For 17 years, Tom Stevenson has been crafting brews to be served to eager patrons at Triumph Brewing Co.’s location on Nassau Street in Princeton Borough.

“They are all my little children,” said Stevenson referring to the ales, stouts and lagers he has been concocting for the brewpub since it opened in 1995.

Back then, Stevenson said he was drawn to become a brewer because it was something not many people did, and brewpubs like Triumph were unheard of in the area.

“When they were building this place it was the talk of the town,” Stevenson said. It was just a month and a half before the pub opened its doors that Stevenson brought some samples of his homebrews to the owners who, after a taste, thought he would be a good fit.

While Stevenson’s story was unique at the time, brewpubs and microbreweries now are popping up all over the state and country.

And recently passed changes to the state’s laws governing brewpubs and small batch breweries, which were signed by Gov. Chris Christie last month, will help to cultivate the industry's presence in the state even further.

The law permits brewpubs to increase the number of locations they can open — upping the number of retail consumption licenses available to the brewery from two to 10. The brewpubs also are permitted to increase production from 3,000 barrels to 10,000 barrels a year. The changes also open the door for brewpubs to distribute their beers to the wholesale market to sell in liquor stores. Before the changes, the law restricted sales only to the brewery’s adjoining restaurant.

Eric Nutt, the sales manager for Triumph's Princeton location, says the brewpub will likely not be able to take advantage of the changes to the law because of space limitations at its current location, but hopes that sometime in the future the company may see the benefits of the changes.

Nutt said Triumph, which has two more locations in New Hope, Pa., and Philadelphia, was already planning to open a new location in Red Bank in 2013 before the changes to the law were passed.

“We now have the opportunity to open up to 10 locations if we want,” Nutt said.

For microbreweries, the new laws allow them to offer samples of their beer on and off site. They can also sell beer at a licensed location for consumption as part of a brewery tour and they can sell a limited amount for off-site consumption.

At River Horse Brewing Co. in Lambertville, head brewer Chris Rakow said the company is taking its time to assess the changes to the law before implementing any at the brewery.

“We want to go over it with a fine-tooth comb,” Rakow said.

The new law allows the brewery to sell pints of beer on location, he said, but that would mean competing with local bars and pubs that have supported the brewery’s growth throughout the years.

“They serve our beer and if we start serving our beer in pints its competing with local business,” said Rakow. “And we aren’t looking to do that.”

Changes to restrictions on how and how much the brewery can sell will be welcome because customers won't have to go through a liquor store.

“It’s all good news if it allows people to get our beer easier,” Rakow said.

Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Trenton) said the good news will be for the state’s economy as a whole as the new law allows the industry to expand.

“It really is an economic engine,” said Gusciora, who cosponsored the Assembly’s version of the bill.

Changes like this in the past, like 15 years ago when changes to the law allowed the creation of brewpubs, opened up a whole new facet of the beer industry for the state. Gusciora said, he thinks the industry will see similar changes as a result of this law.
In the shadow of the craft-beer industry, Gusciora has also proposed another bill that would allow the creation of craft distilleries to make small batches of spirits.

“We have recently updated the state’s wine laws to allow New Jersey to foster a winery industry, “Gusciora said. “ And I think that this bill will evolve to create a cottage industry for distilleries.”

Gusciora sponsored the bill after he was approached by Princeton Township Mayor Chad Goerner. Goerner said he has been interested in craft distilling for a while now and got the idea that changes in the law could allow for a cultivation of a new industry.

“What we are trying to do here is bring New Jersey up to par with other states that have actively supported the craft distillery industry,” said Goerner, who pointed out that since New York passed similar legislation 22 distilleries have formed.

Goerner is particularly interested in allowing distilleries that use a majority of locally sourced ingredients to distill their liquors as a way to prop up the state’s agricultural industry as well.

“It would require an active partnership with our farmers,” said Goerner, who is himself interested in opening a distillery if the bill becomes law. “This is something that doesn’t cost the state much at all and has an economic benefit.”

Gusciora’s bill was referred to the Assembly’s Law and Public Safety Committee. Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate.